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Essential guides for building designers

NBS Shortcut 68

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Below Ground Drainage

Wastewater disposal

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BS EN 752 says that drains, sewers and other components shall... minimise the
use of energy over the life of the system. In general, the self-cleansing of drains
and sewers can be achieved with a pipe diameter (D) of less than 300 mm and
with a daily minimum velocity of 0.7 m/s, or with a gradient of at least 1:D.

The Building Regulations (England

and Wales) state that: Foul water
means wastewater which
comprises or includes:
a) waste from a sanitary
convenience, bidet or appliance
used for washing receptacles
for foul waste; or
b) water which has been used
for food preparation, cooking or
washing.
Similarly, in this Shortcut, the term
wastewater includes foul water.
For those who may wish to dip
their toes into wastewater, Ofwat,
the government appointed
regulator of water and sewerage
providers in England and Wales,

completed the second part of its

assessment of the water treatment
business. It explored the
contestability of water and
sewerage markets and the need for
competition in sewage and sludge
treatment in order to drive
investment programmes and hence
innovation. Primarily, this
innovation relates to coordinated
management plans for the network
to encourage a reduction in the
3 per cent of total UK CO2 emissions
currently attributable to the
provision of water and wastewater
services.
The European Standard
BS EN 752 (2008), Drain and sewer

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systems outside buildings, is a

framework document to assist in the
design, construction, maintenance
and operation of wastewater
systems. It is supported by a range
of other regulations, legislative
documents and product standards
but has been updated to take
account of the forthcoming
implementation of the Water
Framework Directive, which
advocates greater water efficiency.
For a 172 page (11.5 MB
downloadable file), BS EN 752 says
remarkably little, but ties in with
the Code for Sustainable Homes
(especially Chapters 2 and 4) and is
guaranteed to inform water

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Wastewater disposal

Below Ground Drainage

Wastewater disposal

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Below Ground Drainage

Wastewater disposal

conservation measures which will

inevitably be incorporated in the
next round of changes to the
Building Regulations.
Sewers and drains contain either
waste or surface water, and are
either public or privately owned.
Public sewers in the UK are the
responsibility of the ten water and
sewerage companies (WaSCs)
which are public limited companies
that came into existence following
the privatisation of the water
industry in 1989. All other sewers

that drain to a public sewer are

private sewers and are the shared
responsibility of the owners of the
properties they serve. Usually only a
small extent of the total length of a
private sewer will actually lie in a
property owners own curtilage.
Drains that lie outside the curtilage
of a property and connect either to a
private sewer that drains to a public
sewer or directly to a public sewer
are known as lateral drains
(laterals), and these are the
responsibility of the individual

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In order to calculate the actual functional

requirements of a given drainage system, individual
appliances which have relatively high but intermittent
flow rates should be assessed by adopting a figure
for the peak rate of flow derived from the number
and type of appliances connected. BS EN 120562
provides the calculations for the rates of flow that
these create in the drains. These calculations or
the basic versions included in AD H should only be
used in the design of downstream drain systems. It

References

property owner they serve. Laterals

may lie under private or public
land, including highways.
Under government proposals still
under consideration but likely to
be enacted in some form or other
it is proposed that existing shared
private sewers will be transferred
into the ownership of these WaSCs
by 2010. However, drains that lie
within the curtilage of a property
will not be affected.

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should be noted that these flow rates can be

influenced by national or local regulations and so it
is often advisable to contact the relevant authority.
For domestic wastewater sewers, flow rates can be
based on the rate of flow per head for a given
population. Where such data is not available (say,
for new developments yet to be occupied) flow rates
should be based on the population or the type and
number of dwellings set down in the planning
criteria.

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BS EN 1295 (1997) Structural design of buried pipelines under various conditions of loading Part 1: General Requirements
(incorporating corrigenda May 2006 and July 2008), BSI.
BS EN 1610 (1998) Construction and testing of drains and sewers, BSI.
BS EN 12889 (2000) Trenchless construction and testing of drains and sewers, BSI.
BS EN 14654 (2005) Management and control of cleaning operations in drains and sewers Part 1: Sewer cleaning, BSI.
HMSO (1994) The Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, TSO.

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Ofwat (2008) Ofwats Review of Competition in the Water and Sewerage Industries: Part II, www.ofwat.gov.uk

Recommended Readings:

BS EN 476 (1998) General Requirements for Components Used in Discharge Pipes, Drains and Sewers for Gravity Systems, BSI.

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BS EN 752 (2008) Drain and Sewer Systems Outside Buildings, BSI.

BS EN 13508 (2003) Condition of drain and sewer systems outside buildings Part 2: Visual inspection coding system (AMD
Corrigendum 17163), BSI.

Building Regulations (England & Wales) (2006) Approved Document H: Drainage and Waste Disposal, NBS.
Department of the Environment (1990) Technical Booklet N: Drainage, TSO.
Hall, F. & Greeno, R. (2007) Building Services Handbook, 4th edn. Elsevier Publishers.
NHBC (2007) NHBC Standards: Part 5 Substructure and ground floors, National House Building Council.
Scottish Building Standards (2007) Scottish Technical Handbook 3, Environment, TSO.

Written and illustrated by Austin Williams.

ISSN 1753-2094 (Print)

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